PS2 - Timeline
Tuesday26th Nov 2024
News As the Switch Closes in, Sony Confirms PS2 Sold 160 Million Units
Up from the 155 million previously assumed
For over a decade, the PS2’s official sales total sat at 155 million units, as Sony stopped reporting sales of the system in 2012. It was always assumed the final number was higher, as the console wasn’t officially discontinued until a year later, and there would have been leftover inventory that...
News Outstanding PS2 RPG Dragon Quest 8 Is Now 20 Years Old
Remaster, anyone?
At the time of writing this article, it just turned 12am in Japan — and that means Dragon Quest 8 is officially 20 years old. The PS2 RPG first launched on the 27th November, 2004 — but the West didn't get to experience this franchise-defining adventure until later. Dragon Quest 8 dropped the following year in the US, but us...
Friday25th Oct 2024
Random PS2's Iconic Operating System Becomes Survival Horror in Upcoming Indie
Please insert disc
For everyone reading this article, PS2’s operating system will be a source of nostalgia. It also could be quite a frightening place – especially when your favourite game failed to boot. Usually a quick breath over the back of the DVD and a rub on the shirt could fix even the most scratched copy of GTA: San Andreas, but it was...
Thursday10th Oct 2024
News Sony's Porting PS2 Horror Siren to Its New PS5, PS4 Emulator
And that's actually huge news
Sony is adding Siren to PS Plus Premium from 15th October, which is potentially huge news. This is because the PS2 survival horror is actually already part of the subscription, as it was ported to the PS4 in 2016. The Japanese giant pulled the plug on its ill-fated PS2 on PS4 programme after fans complained of shoddy...
Thursday19th Sep 2024
Mini Review Mister Mosquito (PS2) - Sony Classic Sucks in All the Right Ways
Buzzin'
You only need to press the start button to know Mister Mosquito graduated from an era of PlayStation that’s long been lost. As the camera pans around the densely detailed exterior of the Yamada family’s estate, a dramatic voice over does its best David Attenborough impression, describing the precarious lifecycle of a mosquito. Your goal...
Saturday14th Sep 2024
News Don't Sleep on PS2 Secret Gem Sky Gunner, Coming to PS5, PS4 Next Week
Anime-style dogfighting sim
Your eyes may have glossed right over Sky Gunner when you looked at next week’s PS Plus update. That’s understandable, as big-ticket titles Mister Mosquito and Secret Agent Clank were always going to attract greater attention. But don’t write off this PS2 gem from PixelArts, as it’s absolutely worth your time...
Thursday12th Sep 2024
News Zany PS Plus Oddity Mister Mosquito Is an Unmissable PS5, PS4 Addition
Sucking your subscription dry
There’s been much reminiscing among PS5 owners of late, as Astro Bot stirred fond memories of a bygone PlayStation era for fans. Well, if you’re the kind of person raised on a diet of Vib-Ribbon and Ape Escape, you absolutely should be playing Mister Mosquito, an outright barmy PS2 exclusive developed by Japanese...
Friday6th Sep 2024
Mini Review TimeSplitters (PS2) - A Fantastic Foundation with Flaws
Running out of time
Despite releasing just two years prior to TimeSplitters 2, TimeSplitters finds itself noticeably lacking in a number of key areas. It’s not dissimilar to how the gap between 2 and Future Perfect felt, though that was of course three years. Just as Future Perfect pulled a lot of content from its predecessor, 2 would in turn...
Friday30th Aug 2024
Future imperfect
Despite launching just three years later and on the same hardware as TimeSplitters 2, TimeSplitters: Future Perfect looks like a title from a completely different console generation. This is both a good and a bad thing. Visually, things are substantially better, with far cleaner textures, more complex environments, and so on...
Tuesday27th Aug 2024
News We're Already Mourning the GTA Tokyo Game on PS2 That Never Was
The Japanese dream
Did you know that Rockstar briefly considered releasing a Grand Theft Auto game set in Tokyo? Speculation about a Japanese edition of the crime sandbox caper has been rife for several years, especially after Take-Two famously filed trademarks for a game based in the city shortly after the release of GTA: San Andreas in 2004...
Sunday25th Aug 2024
Make like a banana and split
The first-person shooter has gone through many changes over the years. It took a long time to perfect the formula on consoles; we didn’t receive Call of Duty right out of the gate, oh no. There were fundamental experiences that shaped the course of history for the genre, be it Wolfenstein 3D, GoldenEye, Halo, or...
Friday16th Aug 2024
Rob it Raccoon
Sly Cooper returns! Everyone's favourite kleptomaniac raccoon is finally here on PS5, albeit in port form rather than in a brand new title. Still, we'll take what we can get when it comes to Sly, and so it's a pleasure to see the first game in the series, Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, as a PS2 Classic, available for a...
Monday5th Aug 2024
Review Ghosthunter (PS2) - Overlooked Supernatural Shooter Should Be a Cult Classic
The ghost with the most
What a difference a twenty years makes. When Ghosthunter released in 2004 for PS2 it was met with poor sales and mixed reviews from the critics of the time. Generally, reviewers thought it looked great, but it was too linear and at a mere ten hours or so in length it was far too brief. Today, Ghosthunter looks like a bag of...
Friday2nd Aug 2024
Review Summoner (PS2) - Ambitious RPG Remains a Relic of the Past
They sure don't make 'em like this anymore
Summoner is a party-based CRPG that launched on PS2 in 2000, and it was recently given a new lease on life thanks to a re-release on PS5 and PS4 via PlayStation's Classics push. Developed by Volition (later Deep Silver, of Saint's Row fame), the studio's ambitious and expansive effort was marred by a lack...
Wednesday31st Jul 2024
News Cult PS2 Genre Blender Killer7 Could Be Resurrected for PS5, PS4
Make your voice heard
Killer7 is a game unlike any other. If you didn’t play the legendary PS2 shooter, then it’s almost impossible to introduce: it has elements of first-person shooter, rails shooter, and point-and-click gameplay. Developed by Grasshopper Manufacture in collaboration with Capcom, it perhaps deserves to be appreciated by a...
Monday15th Jul 2024
News One of the PS2's Most Overlooked Soundtracks Has Finally Arrived on Music Streaming Services
The Digital Devil Saga continues
The full soundtracks for Digital Devil Saga and Digital Devil Saga 2 are now on music streaming services like Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, and YouTube Music. Both games are collected under one album called Shin Megami Tensei: Digital Devil Saga 1&2 Original Soundtrack, which spans 139 songs. Search for...
Thursday11th Jul 2024
News Forgotten PS2 Launch RPG Summoner Resurrected for PS5, PS4
You could say it's been summoned
What game did you get with your PS2? Tekken Tag Tournament, perhaps? Ridge Racer 5? FantaVision?! We’re going to go out on a limb and assume not many of you picked THQ’s Summoner, an ancient WRPG with a penchant for reams of text and some scruffy visuals. Developed by Volition, this is likely one of the forgotten...
Thursday27th Jun 2024
News PS5, PS4's New PS2 Emulator Fails to Pass Tech Test
"A distinct lack of care"
Tech know-it-alls Digital Foundry are not impressed with the latest PS2 emulator on PS5 and PS4, which debuted earlier this month. It compares the experience to “someone booting up an emulator with default settings and handing you the controller”. The experts brutally conclude: “Sure, you can play the game, but...
Monday24th Jun 2024
News Sly Cooper PS2 Is PS Plus Premium's Biggest Classic Hit So Far
Really snuck in there
Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus almost immediately became the most popular classic game released on PlayStation's PS Plus Premium service, quickly overtaking the previous PS1 champ, The Legend of Dragoon. Spotted by PSLS, Sucker Punch Production's 2002 action platformer took the top spot, according to gameplay analytics
Wednesday19th Jun 2024
News TimeSplitters PS5, PS4 Rated for Release, PS2 Classic Likely Slated for PS Plus Premium
Blast from the past
Free Radical Design's seminal shooter TimeSplitters looks like it's coming to PS5 and PS4, likely as part of the next phase of PS Plus Premium's classics push. Overnight, ratings for modern platforms appeared on the Taiwanese ratings board, which is good news for fans of the now-defunct developer.
News Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition Confirmed for Limited Run Games Showcase
Fancy that, a flying pig
We had a feeling Beyond Good & Evil 20th Anniversary Edition might rear its head soon (despite missing its anniversary year), reassured by the Trophy list that recently popped up online. Well, it's official now: Ubisoft has announced it will share news about the game during tomorrow's Limited Run Games showcase on 20th...
Tuesday18th Jun 2024
News Classic PS2, PSP Campaigns Ghosthunter, Daxter Add Platinum Trophies on PS5, PS4
The master of unlocking
As is commonly the case with first-party releases made available with Sony’s PS Plus Premium service, inventive PS2 shooter Ghosthunter and legendary PSP platformer Daxter will ship with Platinum Trophies. The former game will pack a total of 21 gongs, and will largely require you to beat a variety of bosses, and work your...
Thursday13th Jun 2024
News Soon, All of the Main Jak and Daxter Games Will Be Playable on PS5, PS4
Eco-nomical
Platforming fans can rest assured knowing that from 18th June, you’ll be able to play every single mainline Jak and Daxter game on PS5 and PS4. The release of PSP platformer Daxter – arguably one of the best entries in the series – will round out the selection, with Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy, Jak II, Jak 3, and Jak X:...
News One of PS2's Most Overlooked First-Party Games Is Coming to PS5, PS4
No longer ghosted
You probably never played Ghosthunter, but you should have done. Developed by Cambridge Studio – the UK-based team that would later renamed Guerrilla Cambridge, before being shutdown following the release of PS Vita’s excellent Killzone Mercenary – was published in the United States by Namco, such was the mistreatment of the...
News Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus PS4 Reportedly 'Runs Almost 10% Faster Than It Should'
Gotta go fast
We've never actually encountered a raccoon in reality, but we'd believe they're speedy little beasties. Perhaps the most famous raccoon of all just returned on PS5 and PS4, with Sly Cooper and the Thieivus Raccoonus being re-released on modern platforms, available for subscribers of PS Plus Premium. Like Tomb Raider Legend, however,...
Wednesday12th Jun 2024
News Tomb Raider Legend Unearths 480p, 30fps Performance on PS5, PS4
PS Plus Premium bringing the heat
Tomb Raider Legend arrived on PS Plus Premium today for PS5 and PS4 users, or it can be purchased for $20 outright. While it's awesome to have PS2 games previously stranded playable on modern platforms, this title's performance reportedly leaves much to be desired, especially if you're paying upfront. On Twitter,...
Tuesday11th Jun 2024
Hands On They're Rough Around the Edges, But It's Awesome to Have PS2 Games Back on PS5, PS4
Retro revival
Let’s try this again, eh? Sony originally released a batch of PS2 games on the PS4, but they were buggy, performed poorly, and lacked quality of life features. Now, with its well-established PS1 and PSP emulator, it’s giving the strategy another go – and including the releases in its PS Plus Premium subscription. But how are its...
News Three New PS2 Games Now Available on PS5, PS4 with PS Plus Premium
Sly Cooper! Tomb Raider! Star Wars!
The exciting age of updated PS2 emulation on PS5 and PS4 is now upon us, potentially opening the door to an enormous catalogue of classics – assuming platform holder Sony is willing to put in the leg work. The first three titles – Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus, Tomb Raider Legend, and Star Wars: The...
News PS2's Tomb Raider Legend Plunders an Unexpected PS5, PS4 Platinum Trophy
Star Wars: The Clone Wars, too
Generally speaking, the emulated third-party games made available as part of Sony’s retro PS Plus Premium push have skipped Trophies, simply due to the sheer amount of work involved adding them in. Classic PS2 platformer Tomb Raider Legend is bucking that trend, however, with a silvery-blue accolade available for...
Monday10th Jun 2024
News Legendary PS2 Platformer Sly Cooper Will Have a Platinum on PS5, PS4
We're hell Bentley on getting it
Sucker Punch’s iconic stealth action platformer Sly Cooper and the Thievius Raccoonus will have a Platinum Trophy when it re-releases on PS5 and PS4 later this week, as part of Sony’s expanded emulation offering. Up until now, the Japanese giant has only offered upgraded PS1 and PSP titles as part of its PS Plus...
